Reed loom



May 24, 1938. I e. E. NORDSTROM REED LOOM Filed Dec. 5, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l a wwr 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 REED LOOM G. E. NORDSTRO M Filed Dec. 5, 1936 illllllllllllllhlllll May 24, 1938.

Patented May 24, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REED LOOM Application December 5', 1936, Serial No. 114,454

3 Claims.

This invention relates to looms for weaving reed and more particularly to looms for weaving fibre reed made from folded or crushed kraft paper and fed from a drum or spool or other continuous supply.

My present invention is in the nature of an improvement and addition to the loom shown in my prior Patent No. 1,891,944, issued December 27, 1932.

In the loom therein shown, a lay was provided having a beater plate with a plurality of upstanding dents or fingers, and this lay was given oscillating motion in an irregular closed path such that the fingers engaged the weft reed only on the forward stroke. This permitted a new pick of reed to be fed across the loom during the beat-up of the preceding pick.

The reed used in such looms, whether for warp or weft, is of substantial thickness and the bending of the weft reeds over and under the warp reeds during the beat-up of the weft causes the end portions of the weft reed to be drawn inward from both edges of the fabric toward the center thereof.

When the warp reeds or stakes are substantially spaced apart, the weft reeds will commonly stretch or creep inward enough during the beatup to relieve the strain on the reed, but when the warp reeds or stakes are closer together, the weft reeds are more closely bound in the fabric and the transverse take-up or shortening of the weft reeds is also increased because of the more numerous bends or curves formed therein by the warp reeds. In wide goods, this close spacing of the warp reeds thus results in frequent breakage of the weft reeds during the beat-up.

It is the general object of my present invention to provide means for manipulating the weft reeds in such manner that this breakage of reeds during the beat-up will be substantially avoided.

To the accomplishment of this general object, I provide reed-engaging devices at spaced intervals across the lay and I provide means for moving these devices in such manner and at such times that the end portions of the weft reed are drawn inward from the edges of the fabric toward the center thereof before the shed has fully closed and before the weft reed is engaged and driven forward by the beater fingers.

These reed-engaging devices form forwardly directed loops or curves in the weft reed at spaced intervals across the fabric, which loops or curves supply surplus material as the weft reed is shortened during the beat-up, so that the strain on the weft reed caused by the bending thereof about the warp reeds is relieved at spaced points in the Width of the fabric. Weft reed breakage is thus substantially eliminated.

This invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be. hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of parts of a reed loom embodying my invention;

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are views similar to Fig. l but showing the parts in different operative relations;

Fig. 5 is a partial plan View, looking in the direction of the arrow 5 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a similar View, looking in the direction of the arrow B in Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a cam and cam plate to be described;

Fig. 8 is a sectional end elevation, taken along the line 8--8 in Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the path of travel of the cam roll which actuates the weft-engaging devices.

Referring to Fig. 1, I have shown parts of the loom disclosed in my prior patent above identified, comprising a fixed frame or loom side It and a lay ll mounted on arms l2, which in turn are in part supported on a cross shaft [4.

The lay II is provided with a heater plate l5 having upstanding dents or fingers I6, and the lay and beater fingers are moved by the arms 12 in an irregular closed path such that the fingers IS on their rearward movement pass below the position of the weft reed W, while in their forward movement they engage and beat-up the weft. Mechanism for effecting this irregular motion is fully disclosed in my prior patent.

Guide. members 20 and 2| are mounted on rock shafts 22 and 23 respectively, and the guide members 2! are provided with guide openings 24 (Fig. 2) through which a new weft reed is inserted when the members 20 and 2| are in the position shown in Fig. 1. After insertion, the reed is cut off by suitable cutting mechanism,

After the lay II and beater fingers lfihave moved to rearward position, the guide members 20 and 2| are separated as shown in Fig. 2, so that the new weft reed W is loosely deposited between the sheds of the warp. The lay H and beater fingers l6 thereafter move forward as the shed closes, thus beating the new weft reed firmly into the fabric.

The parts and operations thus far described are as shown in my prior patent to which referwoe is made for a more complete explanation.

I will now describe the additional weft-engaging devices by which weft breakage in wide fabrics with closely spaced warps has been eliminated.

In order to effect this desired result, I provide a plurality of hook-like weft-engaging devices adjustably mounted on collars 3| and secured thereto in any convenient manner as by screws 33 (Fig. 1). The collars 3| are secured in spaced relation on a cross rod 34 rotatable in bearings 35 fixed to the lay A cam roll (Fig. 5) is mounted on a stud 4| fixed in the end of an arm 42 having a hub 43 fixed to the end of the cross rod 34. The cam roll 40 is positioned to successively engage a fixed cam plate 45 and a movable cam plate 46.

The cam plate 45 is mounted on a supporting plate 48 secured to the loom side l0, and the movable cam plate 46 is pivotally secured to the supporting plate 48 by a stud 49. An L-shaped stud 50 (Fig. 8) has one end fixed in the movable cam plate 46 and extending through a segmental slot 5| in the supporting plate 48.

The upturned outer end of the stud 50 extends through a fixed bearing plate 52 and is provided with a coil spring 53 which exerts downward pressure on lock nuts 54 on the stud 50. The cam plate 46 is thus normally held yieldingly in the position shown in full lines in Fig, '7. The lock nuts 54 may be adjusted to vary the pressure of the spring 53.

The cam roll 40 engages the fixed cam plate 45 near the middle of the rearward beat of the lay II and passes under the movable cam plate 46 as it is moved rearward in contact with the fixed cam plate 45. On its forward movement, however, the roll 40 travels over the movable cam plate 46 during the first part of its forward movement.

Successive positions of the cam roll 40 are indicated in dotted lines at a, b, c, d, e, and respectively in Fig. 7 and the path of movement of the center of the cam roll is indicated by the curve C in Fig. 9. For unusually wide looms or heavy fabrics, the cam mechanism described may be duplicated at the opposite side of the loom.

Having described in detail the parts of the loom essential to the understanding of my invention, I will now describe the operation thereof.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the lay and beater fingers l6 are shown in their rearmost position, with the cam roll 40 in the position 0 of Fig. 7 and at the extreme left-hand end of the curve C in Fig. 9. While the parts are momentarily in this position, the guide members 20 and 2| are separated to release the new weft reed W, and at the same time the warp shed begins to close.

As forward movement of the lay II and beater fingers l6 begins, the hook-shaped weft-engaging devices 30 are raised behind the freshly inserted weft W at the moment when the warp shed has closed sufficiently to frictionally engage the weft.

The weft portions W engaged by the devices 30 (Fig. 6) are drawn forward in loops or curves, while the intervening portions of the weft W remain in their original position until engaged by the beater fingers l6.

As the shed has not entirely closed at this point, the weft reed W is held loosely enough to permit the end portions of the reed to slide toward the center to provide surplus material for the loops or curves W.

As the lay continues to move forward, the cam roll 4|! is moved forward of the axis of the stud 49 and the devices 30 and operating arm 42 move by gravity to the inoperative position shown in Fig. 4, with the devices 30 positioned entirely below the fabric which is being woven.

The beater fingers l6 force the entire weft reed forward during the beat-up but the loops or curves W provide surplus material to be bent around the closely spaced warp reeds.

The fingers 30 are to be so adjusted that the surplus material in the loops W will be accurately sufficient to offset the drawing in of the weft as it is bent over the warps, so that no exceptional longitudinal strain will be placed on any portion of the weft reed.

By thus providing surplus material at spaced points in the width of the fabric for use during the beat-up, I am able to operate my loom on wide fabrics with closely spaced warp reeds at relatively high speed and without substantial. weft breakage.

Having thus described my invention and the advantagesthereof, I do not wish to be limitedv to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth inv the claims, but what I claim is:

1. In a reed loom, means to provide a weft reed, a lay, a beater on said lay, a plurality of transversely spaced reed-displacing devices, a cross shaft mounted on said lay and supporting said devices, an arm on said shaft, a fixed cam engaging said arm on the rearward stroke of the lay, and a second cam engaging said arm on the forward stroke of the lay, said latter cam being displaced and inoperative during the rearward stroke.

2. In a reed loom, means to provide a weft reed, a lay, a heater on said lay, a plurality of transversely spaced reed-displacing devices, a cross shaft mounted on said lay and supporting said devices, an arm on said shaft, a cam roll on said arm, a fixed cam operatively engaging said cam roll on the rearward stroke of the lay, a second cam movably mounted above said fixed cam and displaced by said cam roll during rearward movement thereof, said second cam resting on said fixed cam during forward movement of the lay and operativelyengaging said cam roll during a portion of such forward movement.

3. In a reed loom having a lay, means to supply a weft reed for said lay, and means to open and close a warp shed relative to said weft reed, that improvement which consists in providing displacing elements mounted on said lay and movable with and also relative thereto and effective to engage and displace spaced portions only of a weft reed on said lay simultaneously forward to produce a series of loops spaced across the width of the fabric, and in providing means to cause said displacing elements to engage said weft reed when the warp shed is nearly closed and when the warps are positioned to frictionally engage and substantially retard forward movement of the portions of weft reed between said spaced loops.

GUSTAF E. NORDS'IROM. 

